boeing tour

this morning, although we aimed to arrive 45 minutes early to our reserved boeing: future of flight tour (per the website's instructions), jen and i ended up arriving just in time. it can be a little confusing when you enter the boeing campus and my SIL and i were so caught up in conversation that we missed two exits on the way over :p kevin and his parents, in a separate car, arrived right on time.

after arrival, you need to put all your personal belongings into a locker since there are no purses, bags, backpacks, phones, or cameras allowed on the tour. then the fun begins! after a short video introduction on the history of boeing (had no idea boeing was dismantled by FDR's anti-trust regulators), we were led onto a AC'd coach bus to begin our tour of the boeing campus, and visited two hangars to see where the boeing 737, 777, and 787 jets were built. 

it was quite extraordinary, to learn about the process and see the planes being built in parts. it would have been even cooler if we could have walked down into the plant and check out the planes close-up as they were being built, however, i can see why they have to keep tourists away from the jets which cost upwards of $200 million each.

one of the most interesting things we learned was how the planes are "picked up". pilots from customer airlines arrive to the boeing campus, test out their new planes in the airspace above the campus, and fly off with the product just like we walk out of the supermarket with groceries! haha makes sense i guess.

below is a little seahawks pride!

  

we checked out a new route near weowna park heading west on the lake-to-lake trail! it was largely shaded, which was nice, and the surface was mostly trail, which is easier on the knees. passed by a nice blueberry farm!

damn the weather

back in seattle, we managed to sneak away for a little one-on-one time in pioneer square. psq has really started to take shape, with cute little restaurants and bars, coffee shops, and boutiques popping up in the historic neighborhood. it feels like there are new places to explore and discover with each visit.

we were deciding between three new spots we'd yet to try: the london plane, bar sajor, and damn the weather. we decided to try DTW for drinks and small eats as it recently made bon apetit's list of top 50 new restaurants in america. 

we shared everything - a pear cider from france, puget sound oysters, fries with curry aoli, peach salad with pistachios and vinaigarette, cornichons, and roast beef with english dip. the last was kevin's favorite (not pictured) hahah ... very tasty, but a little on the heavy side for me. we will definitely be returning to try the rest of the items on the menu!

the really big one

on july 20, 2015, the new yorker published an article, "the really big one", which explains the 1-in-10 chance that a shift of the cascadian subduction zone, which sits in the middle of the most volcanically and seismically volatile "ring of fire", will occur in the next fifty years, resulting in an estimated 13,000 deaths (more than six times than the number of casualties from hurricane katrina).

reading it sends chills down my spine ...

since then, the seattle times has been giving the topic a decent amount of coverage, leading to articles such as this one: seattle's old brick buildings could see huge damage in big earthquake it's sad to think of all the beautiful, historic buildings which have been and could potentially collapse. it makes me think about reconsidering a future move to the pnw.

on a related note, while our building has been retrofitted with parapets, somehow it still made its way into the article. 

a loft transformed

another morning, another run! my MIL suggested for us to check out weowna park, a wooded forest with soft trails for walking, running, and hiking, just west of lake sammamish. after passing the kelsey creek blueberry farm driving on 148th ave and a really nice paved (and shaded!! :D) path along the north side of southeast 16th street, we parked the car at a trailhead around 168th ave southeast and southeast 19th street.

the "run" was really fun and almost entirely (99.999%) shaded! it was hot and humid out, but at least we were shaded and protected by cooler temperatures of the forest. the hills were humbling in the first half of the run, and miserably cruel in the second half, but to get a peek of lake sammamish was totally worth it! when we reached the northmost point of the run, we realized that the car key was missing, and retraced our steps (ahhhhh) in search of the key.  to no luck.

luckily, a quick call to the family 911 line and my MIL and nephew were at the park in no time, with an extra set of keys for us. i think this is the third time we've had some sort of car issue in the seattle area in the last four years, and second time we needed to call kevin's parents for help. yes, for some reason i keep track of random stats like that :p

in the afternoon, we piled into doughzone for a seriously delicious taiwanese breakfast, and stopped by the loft to see how the work was going. mike and his guys had prepped, primed, and started painting the south side of the loft, and the north side was being prepped. just a fresh coat of white primer resulted in such a transformation in the loft! i hope one day we can do a full renovation of the place!

it was a beautiful day and we wanted to get to know our area a little bit better, so we walked around occidental ave and first ave to scope out some of the restaurants, bars, and shops we've been reading about online. here are the must try's in pioneer square: 

• bar sajor
• salumi
• the london plane
• dry goods designs
• damn the weather
• kraken congee
• intrigue chocolate
• pizza gabbiano
• good bar
• elm coffee roasters

finally, liam bid us farewell with this adorable line-up. these are all the legos "he built all by himself with uncle kevin, auntie jen, mom, and ah-gong" this weekend :)

smith tower

with the time difference on our side, we woke before the rest of the family and went for a quick run around green lake, which is just a 15 minute drive from my in-laws'. the lakeside parking lot was full when we arrived at 7am and there were lots of people walking their dogs, pushing their baby strollers, and jogging along the lakefront path. seems like folks in the PNW get up earlier, or maybe they just wanted to take full advantage of the beautiful sunny weekend ahead!

this is smith tower in downtown seattle. completed in 1914, it was once the tallest building west of the mississippi until the space needle overtook it in 1962. it's still one of the most iconic structures in downtown seattle, and i love its neoclassical design and detailed terracotta finishes.

for lunch, jen and i met with my childhood friend, julia, and her mother, for soup dumplings and other goodies at the bellevue square DTF. i am so glad julia and jen now have another friend in each other in the pnw! my world's are colliding, in a great way <3 

ohayou, seattle!

today was the first day of our three day trip to seattle! and it was also the second time for us to visit the new loft in the historical pioneer square. 

first things first in the city where american coffee culture was born: we stopped by elm coffee roasters, the recently opened roastery and coffee shop in the neighborhood, and visited the loft! all the furniture was cleared out, including the grand piano (doh), but the walls were still warm shades of wine, mustard, and evergreen. what were these people thinking??

we spent a little time taking inventory of the apartment's condition and fixtures, figured out how to access the parking garage (secret batmobile like entrance along the railroad tracks, check!), and made a little to do list. later in the afternoon, mike, the handyman, visited the loft with us and estimated it would take 3-4 days to prime and paint the place. exciting! below are a couple photos of the current walls (yuck), and us choosing between a couple different shades of white. we went with the one behind kevin, which is a creamier white, which will hopefully complement the original brick walls. 

love love love the brick walls and open views and neighborhood, even if it is shady. i already want to live here !!!!!!

and on this fine day, we found the yummiest taiwanese cafe in the international district of downtown seattle: hard wok cafe. even though we were at least double the age of all the other patrons, we had an unforgettable dining experience! i don't think i've ever seen 蚵仔煎 (oyster omelette), 擔仔麵 (danzai noodles), 大腸包小腸 ("big sausage wrapped around small sausage"), or 台南米糕 (tainan bucket rice) on a menu in the US and this place had them all, and more! my favorites were the 肉燥 (braised diced pork belly over rice) and 割包 (gua bao)! definitely one of our best finds (thanks to my MIL) in the PNW yet.

more food to come: jen, kevin, and i managed to get away for a nice evening out in capitol hill, with dinner at the korean bbq-inspired restaurant, trove, and mudpie parfaits from the food truck out front. the weather was really nice,  in the high 60s with the sun setting over the city, and the conversation was intimate.

when we got home, uncle kevin made more legos with liam :)

pioneer square

kevin went out early to do some hill repeats this morning while i caught up on my latest book, robert capa: a biography. after visiting the magnum photos exhibition and trying to visit fondation hcb in paris, i felt compelled to learn more about this photographer who led a famed, yet tumultuous life, which ended at just the age of 40. i was hoping to finish the book during this trip, but it seems like i've only gotten a third of the way through.

today we visited two more lofts in the pioneer square - downtown seattle area. i think kevin and i both felt an immediate connection with this one (top floor). this photo is taken from the building's batcave-like parking garage, which is parallel to a set of train tracks. there's something industrial, tangible, and historical we both love about trains. maybe it was because we loved watching the men who built america a few years back and learning about cornelius "commodore" vanderbilt's railroad empire. with a mess of unfinished walls, outdated kitchen and baths, and hundreds of feet of commercial electrical wiring, i'm not sure if this one will be our next project, but we did both individually love it.

in the afternoon, we walked around the u-dub (university of washington) campus where kevin's father did his residency +35 years ago. it was the start of spring and the sakura's were starting to bloom, making the cherry blossom quad a spectacle with hundreds of students and visitors picnicking, tossing frisbee and football (i so wanted to join in), posing for photo shoots (LOL!!), and more. 

i was enjoying the sight, but secretly thinking back to last march when we visited the quad on an early sunday morning and had the sakura to ourselves. it was towards the end of the blossom during our last visit, and the sakura petals covered the quad paths, creating quite a magical setting.

here is a photo of kevin and his mom in front of a magnolia tree. i think it's called a saucer magnolia or tulip tree, which is a hybrid between the lily magnolia and yulan magnolia. i generally see them in shades of white with a little pink, but these were magenta.

hello, pnw!

we started our weekend off with a 4-miler at nearby mercer slough. there is one hill on the east side (around mile 2) which i remember used to hurt quite a bit, but i think we are stronger mentally so we took it nice and easy and it was no obstacle. woohoo! it was 37F out, a bit cooler than we were expecting, but it kept us from overheating.

after a coffee and lemon glazed old-fashioned from top pot, we headed down to pioneer square to meet with a redfin agent, jimi lou steambarge (that's not a joke), to check out a loft on south jackson. the views were gorgeous and the unit had great bones, but would take a bit of work. maybe a fun project in the future?

explored occidental ave a little, visiting drygoods design, london plane, and zeitgeist coffee. dreamed a little about living in seattle and taking sewing classes at drygoods. took in the beautiful ranunculus and local artisan work at london plane. i was excited to learn that little shirley vases are made in seattle! they are carried by lots of home furnishing retailers these days, such as room and board and dwell. when we get our guest room set up a bit more, i hope to pick up a few. probably won't be having the chai latte from zeitgeist again as it's mostly spice, and not enough sweetness.

i think it was the first spring-like weekend for seattle-ites, as well as us new yorkers! the sun was shining brightly out and there was not a cloud in the sky. we finished off the afternoon with a walk through the botanical gardens, where liam showed us his favorite suspension bridge. here's a photo which i think pretty much sums up our afternoon:

wahoooooo

happy friday!

i woke up to the sound of kevin's cell phone alarm going off at 5:30. he had planned to meet friends at the gym, but when i heard it go off three more times at 5:45, 6:00, and 6:15, i realized the gym probably wasn't happening. each time, he would roll over, hit the snooze, and pull me a little closer. finally i nudged him after the fourth alarm and suggested - since you've missed your workout at the gym, why don't you try out your wahoo kickr in the living room?

what is a wahoo (or wahOOOOOO as i like to call it)? it's an indoor trainer that you can attach your bike to and allows you to essentially do a cycling/spin workout in the comfort of your home. using wireless technology, it allows you to view training metrics such as wattage, time, kcal, cadence (rpm), and speed, to gauge the level of your workout (or beat yourself over the head if you can't put up the same wattage or speed as you did in a previous workout). paired with the zwift beta app, you are able to socialize and compete with friends training around the world. i haven't used it (yet), but it sounds a bit like warcraft on a bike to me. haha.

so kevin was able to get in a 30 minute workout, and i was able to sneak in a few minutes more of sleep and  take my time getting ready for work. everyone wins. unless i get a wahoo kickr too, which would mean i would probably be laaaate(r) for work. will think about it for next winter, but for now, spring is almost in the air and i will be outside running in no time.

in a few hours, we are off to seattle, and i just checked the weather (again) and we are expecting 60s now. wahooooo! time to break out the birkenstocks, my other great love!

office holiday party

woohoo! we had our office holiday party this evening at the ainsworth park ave, a sports bar that opened a few years ago in gramercy. the venue was great, drinks were flowing, and i was done after 3 glasses of piniot grigio.

though i dread going to company holiday parties, im usually pleasantly surprised because i end up having a pretty good time. i got to chat with a lot of people i don't usually interact with on the floor, and that's where you end up hearing all the juicy work gossip anyways :)

afterwards pumped the jjlin station in the apartment and forced kevin to do a slow dance with me in the kitchen :) time to pack for seattle! the last red-eye for 2014 ...

double red-eye

after a restless 4.5 hr flight, we landed at newark on time and chatted briefly with friends, will and janet, who similar to one year ago on the sunday after thanksgiving, were also on our returning flight from seattle! hopped in an uber and the rest of the day was a haze as the first of the month is always full of tons of month-end stuff to take care of at work. in addition, there were so many forecasts to prepare and send out. ahhh ...

one of the highlights of my day was getting lunch with dais. LARGE spicy meatballs + kale apple salad + quinoa with squash and i was treated a delicious yakimochi for dessert. life's little treats.

despite our weariness, kevin and i prepared a simple dinner after work. it's really nice living so close to whole foods.

dinner menu
short-grain rice with booster
sauteed shrimp with edamame
steamed chawanmushi
sauteed kale with garlic
bottarga paired with daikon

after dinner we skyped with my parents and learned that they will be remodeling their master bath soon! *exciting* looking forward to seeing the transformation of their +25 year old bath.

best: having two dishwashers was one of my little treats in designing the new place :) we don't usually need to use the dishwasher when it's just kevin and me having dinner alone, but i think they will come in handy when we're hosting!

worst: not remembering which dishwasher is loaded up with clean or dirty dishes. ha! it turned out they were all clean but i just hadn't put them away yet. need to think of a system for this ...

smile: when we sat down to eat dinner, i realized that kevin had cooked all the dishes and put the finishing touches on them all as well! while i was busy preparing the shrimp and kale, he had cooked the rice, steamed the chawanmushi, prepared and lightly baked the bottarga, and sauteed two dishes. it's nice to have an extra pair of hands in the kitchen :)

seattle half pr

it's become tradition for us to run the seattle half on thanksgiving weekend. despite the cold 28F weather, we made it out for the race and kevin felt better than ever for this run. i could tell because he left me in the dust for the entire race, always 100-200m ahead of me - sometimes more! and good thing, because he still had some gas left in the tank after the finish. 

we both ran our PRs for the course and all time! :) 1:42:48 for me, or 7:42/mi pace! see what happens when you don't practice ...

it was a great way to kick off the morning and a great way to end our trip. the rest of the day was followed by DELICIOUS taiwanese breakfast at dough zone dumpling house, shopping at the half-priced bookstore where i found myself gravitating towards the home crafts, gardening, and interior design section. as i leaned against the bookshelf flipping through the books, i suddenly felt like i was watching my mother. oh gosh :p maybe this is what happens when you reach your mid-thirties.

anyways, got my first book on zakka sewing *excited to try out some of these projects*! and maybe make my own ornaments for our future christmas tree ... though that might be a while ... 

checked out a couple mcmansions in bellevue for fun, which were swarming with chinese househunters, and finished off the day with fort-building with kevin's nephew, liam, and a hotpot dinner at swish-swish.

best: kevin waiting up for me on lakeview ave after i'd dropped a glove and fallen back.

worst: the darn hill half mile before the finish - crushed me last year and this year! we need to do some training so we can own it next year ..

smile: watching liam build forts with uncle kevin :) i'll have to upload a video of it sometime.

turkey day

happy thanksgiving :)

woke up around 4:30am from the time difference and mosied around the downtown bellevue starbucks with the local senior citizens (who else is up at 5am?) before heading up to greenlake for a run. greenlake is where matthew inman, creator of the oatmeal and the blerch, organizes his runs.

it was our first time to the greenlake area, which seemed to be another lovely neighborhood of seattle, a bit more residential with more single family homes than multiple dwelling units. it was pitch black when we arrived and we were pleasantly surprised to see locals pulling up into the parking lot to use the indoor pool. what a great community ... i think both kevin and i would like to join a community like this one day when we're done with finance and nyc.

there's a wide path around the lake, perfect for running, dog walking, or just strolling. the full loop is about 2.8 miles, and by the end of our run, we saw fishermen lined up with their tackleboxes, bait, and large thermoses of coffee. apparently they were fishing for trout!

without a doubt, top pot doughnut is always one of our first stops in seattle/bellevue as well so we picked up breakfast for the family on the way back and spent the rest of the day preparing a 10 lb turkey, side dishes, and catching up with the family. dinner was an assortment of american and taiwanese dishes, with heather's meatballs and kevin's brussel sprouts front and center as the crowdpleasers! unfortunately i didn't get a photo of the turkey in its entirety so i'll have to get that from my FIL later.

best: my MIL prepared these tasty dumplings for us for lunch! they were filled with napa cabbage, ground pork, and *SURPRISE* corn! definitely going to pick some of those up ... and maybe try to make them ourselves one day.

worst: 84% humidity. hahaha .. great for the skin, but it definitely cuts the run short :)
smile: listening to everyone give thanks at the dinner table. for the second year in a row, my MIL's eyes welled-up in tears as she exclaimed how every day since she moved to seattle are the happiest days of her life (because she can be near her grandson).